20. Richard Kind as Bing Bong in “Inside Out” (2015)
Pixar pulled a clever trick with its “Inside Out” marketing, hiding away cotton candy/cat/elephant/dolphin imaginary best friend Bing Bong away, despite being one of the movie’s most memorable characters. Kind is in the elite club of multiple Pixar voice roles (he’s in “A Bug’s LIfe,” “Toy Story 3” and both “Cars” movies), but has never had a better one than here. Bing Bong’s a deeply silly, borderline deranged character, and the desperate yet warm quality in Kind’s voice sells both the value he has to Riley and the depth of his eventual sacrifice, the one that broke $900 million worth of hearts this summer.
19. Sarah Vowell as Violet in “The Incredibles” (2004)
The voice casting for these movies often went to unexpected talent, but none as unexpected as director Brad Bird’s choice to cast Vowell, a writer and regular “This American Life” contributor with little acting experience, as the teen daughter of the superheroic family. With more in common with Thora Birch in “Ghost World” than most screen teens, Vowell’s quirky tones perfectly captures the kind of girl who wishes she could (and in this case actually can) fade into the background, and the way she eventually finds her own voice is one of the most moving aspects of the film.
18. Wallace Shawn as Rex in the “Toy Story” films (1995-2010)
Possibly our favorite of the supporting cast of the “Toy Story” franchise is Rex, the giant tyrannosaur who, despite towering over the others, is an utterly neurotic creature. And who better to play a character like that than Wallace Shawn, who makes Rex literally a tiny, excitable man trapped inside the body of an enormous dinosaur. Rex has rarely been given more than one-note to play (he’s perpetually scared of everything), but Shawn brings a sort of musicality to his constant panic, and what’s perhaps most impressive is that the performance is such a world away from the other roles he’s better known for, whether “My Dinner With Andre” or “The Princess Bride.”
17. John Goodman as Sully in “Monsters Inc.” (2002)
He can play brash and he can play villainous, but there’s an intrinsic warmth to Goodman’s voice that’s served him well since the days of “Roseanne,” and it’s put to gorgeous use in “Monsters Inc.,” as the bear-like Sully, the top-scarer in the titular company. He’s clearly soft-hearted from the beginning, but whatever fierce exterior he might have is stripped away utterly by the little human Boo (“Kitty!”) bringing out something sweet and parental in the actor’s voice. Goodman’s also better than his co-stars at de-aging the character over a decade on in the mostly disappointing prequel “Monsters University.”
16. Willem Dafoe as Gill in “Finding Nemo” (2003)
It must have been tough finding an actor to play a character who’s equal parts Randall P. McMurphy, Cool Hand Luke and Yoda, but Gill, the scarred, half-finned leader of the fish tank inmates, has the perfect voice in the shape of Willem Dafoe. Channeling the sort of mentorship he displayed in “Platoon” and with the fierce charisma he’s brought to, well, everything he’s ever done, the moorish idol (who bears a striking resemblance to the actor) is a standout even among the film’s atypically colorful cast of characters. Fingers crossed he comes back for next year’s sequel.
15. Bob Peterson as Dug in “Up” (2009)
A veteran animator, co-director of “Up” and original director on “The Good Dinosaur” before he was replaced (he’s still at the studio, never fear), Peterson’s been lending voices to Pixar movies since the early days —he was Geri in “Geri’s Game,” the gruff Roz in “Monsters Inc.,” and teacher Mr. Ray in “Finding Nemo.” but his finest moment as an actor is certainly Dug, the talking dog in “Up.” The animal’s collar lets him vocalize his every thought, and the endlessly enthusiastic, drooly, dim-witted voice that Peterson gives him couldn’t be a more perfect personification of the internal monologue of a pup (“I have just met you and I love you”…)
14. Brad Bird as Edna Mode in “The Incredibles” (2004)
But as good as Peterson’s been, he (and Andrew Stanton’s surfer turtle from “Finding Nemo”) are pipped in terms of Pixar directorial cameos by Bird’s Edna Mode in “The Incredibles.” A fashion designer for superheroes inspired by Edith Head (among many others), with an accent somewhere between German, Japanese and something else entirely, legend has it Bird was trying to get Lily Tomlin to play the role, gave her an example of how she should sound and she told him he should do it himself. She’s bossy and badass, but though Bird goes broad in his delivery, he never allows Edna to become a pure caricature, especially because she’s maybe the smartest character in the movie —her wisdom of “no capes!” proves to be the undoing of the film’s villain.
13. Kelly MacDonald as Merida in “Brave” (2012)
Rather undervalued among the Pixar canon —it was well received and won an Oscar, but is less beloved than most of the company’s original movies —“Brave” is a terrific film, one of the company’s most moving, and this is largely because of the dynamic between its two female leads, and in particular Kelly MacDonald’s Merida. Replacing Reese Witherspoon quite late in the game (in what we suspect was a crucial swap-out), MacDonald is wonderful as the flame-haired, free-spirited Scottish princess, effortlessly playing significantly younger than her real age, and selling both the individuality of the character and the thawing in her frosty relationship with her mother.
12. Phyllis Smith as Sadness in ”Inside Out” (2015)
The task, and it was no easy one, of the actors playing the emotions in “Inside Out,” was making their characters not feel one-note. And “The Office” actress Smith finds countless to play in the key of Sadness as her blue, turtle-necked character. Early on, she’s weighed down with the existential weight of the universe, and later she starts acting out without quite knowing why, trying to express an inner turmoil. She can be depressed, self-hating, dark, overwhelmed and wallowing, and yet Smith finds a way to make her both likable and funny, and her eventual embrace of her role in the mind feels triumphant.
11. Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear in the “Toy Story” films (1995-2010)
He’s hardly the star now that Tom Hanks is, but Tim Allen proved to be perfect casting as Woody’s nemesis and eventual BFF Buzz Lightyear in the first “Toy Story” and beyond. In a departure from his everydad persona, Allen embodies a certain kind of B-movie space hero (surely leading to his casting in his other career highlight “Galaxy Quest”). but he’s careful to play a certain note of self-delusion even in the beginning, and his genuine sadness at finding his real place in the world and the way he comes to terms with it is utterly organic as a result. The third film somewhat underuses Buzz, returning to similar notes (but in Spanish), but there’s a reason he’s still an icon.
